Disaster Averted With Old School Star Wars Battlefront II

Hey everyone. I had originally planned for today’s post to be on Metal Gear Solid V, but that post has not been delayed to next Tuesday due to the events this week involving updates to the Steam and GOG versions of Star Wars Battlefront II (2005). An update for the game was released earlier in the week that in essence broke mod support and other gameplay issues, causing an outcry from Battlefront II supporters. One day later, another update was released that reverted the game to its pre-update state. All was well again. But that 24-hour period sure did bring about a myriad of emotions for Battlefront II gamers.

On Tuesday, a small update with released on both clients for the purpose of better controller support and some graphical alterations such as a bigger HUD. Unfortunately, this same update made many Battlefront II mods unplayable, downgraded the graphics, and altered other parts of the game that made it become unfamiliar to players. Looking through the comments on message boards and YouTube videos, some old school Battlefront II fans were ready to completely move on from the game. They were devastated and I couldn’t blame them. Star Wars Battlefront II is a title that is over 15 years old that hasn’t had any regular cycle of updates for years. Then suddenly out of nowhere, an update is released that causes all sorts of havoc.

I found out about the news on Tuesday evening through the video above where Savage01st broke down the effects that the update had on mods and other areas of gameplay. I highly recommend Savage01st’s YouTube channel if you are a fan of the Star Wars Battlefront series. Being that the original Star Wars Battlefront II is one of my favorite games, this was not news that I desired to hear. I have more than 150 gigabytes of mods that I have downloaded and added to the game over the years. The notion that all the time I spent waiting for downloads to complete and time spent installing the mods (and troubleshooting them) only for it to go up in smoke because of an update was annoying. But for me, at least I had the solution of going back to my disc version of the game. What about those who only purchased the game through Steam or GOG?

Thank goodness for the modding community. Within hours of Tuesday’s update, a downgrade patch was released by ModDB.com user “giftheck” to put the game back to the pre-update state. I downloaded this patch after seeing that it was recommended by other gamers. It allowed me to play my mods without any issues. Although it is now archived on the ModDB.com site, I would recommend that you download the patch just to have it as a backup in case another surprising update occurs.

Files such as the downgrade patch could be a lifesaver when updates compromise the integrity of a game. I have a folder for Grand Theft Auto V downgrade files because every time a new update is released, mods are rendered unplayable until the new Script Hook V version is released. Script Hook V is what allows many mods to be playable in GTA V. So as the new update for GTA V was released yesterday, I made sure I backed up the files I needed to roll my game back to the December 15th update and I also have the Script Hook V version that is compatible with that game version. This will allow me to keep playing with my mods in the meantime and when the new Script Hook V is released, then I will update my game again. Backups are your friend.

I want to offer a big thanks to the developers for listening to the Star Wars Battlefront II community and acting quickly to revert the update on Wednesday. It says a lot that they listened to the concerns of their consumers and were willing to take action. In essence, they were willing to recognize their mistake and take responsibility by correcting it. That’s something to appreciate and not take lightly. From what I read from comment sections, there was a celebration among Star Wars Battlefront II fans because they were able to use their mods again. This was a beautiful resolution.

Star Wars Battlefront II is by no means a perfect game, but I wouldn’t want the game to be updated any further. Even with its flaws, I embrace the way the game is and prefer for it to stay that way. Hopefully, the developers recognize that much of its Star Wars Battlefront II fan base shares this sentiment and leaves it be for the future. Now, if developers have ways they wish to further improve the 2017 version of Star Wars Battlefront II (which still is a great game as it is now), I’m fully open to that.

-TVGA
admin@videogamersadvocate.com